Mayor Annise Parker doesn't believe in lame ducks. As if anyone would confuse her with one. Despite facing a well-funded attack campaign from former city attorney Ben Hall, Parker won her third and final term in Tuesday's mayoral election with an unexpectedly easy victory, garnering wide support from all across Houston. With a replenished store of political capital, Parker has the city behind her and two years of potential ahead of her. She's even rejected any plans to run statewide anytime soon. Good. There's work to be done.

Parker has until the 2015 legislative session to draw up plans for Houston's firefighter pension that she can sell to state legislators. We're still pouring tax dollars into a black box without knowing what the long-term obligations are going to be - and it is all controlled at the state level. Firefighters aren't likely to come to the table, so our mayor will have to pull together a broad coalition to show the folks at the Capitol that all of Houston wants to take back control of our city's employee pensions.

Back here in city government, many residents feel like they've lost control over the dollars flowing from Rebuild Houston. Claims of misused funds conflate the distinct sources of infrastructure dollars in the city budget.

But the mayor and her Rebuild Houston allies should have explained ahead of time exactly how this system would work. After years of political expediency driving so much of infrastructure spending, folks don't know what to expect from worst-first technocratic solutions. Parker may be a policy wonk, but sometimes you need an explainer-in-chief.

Admittedly, the problems of spending money are nice to have after years of dealing with crunched budgets. This may be the first time for Parker to have a little fun with the budget. Under our mayor, we presume "fun" will mean better funding of obligations to the municipal and police officers' pension funds. There is also opportunity to lay the groundwork for transforming our infamous city sprawl into a city of neighborhoods. Better sidewalks, central parking structures and more green space can help create a comprehensive sense of place amid the miles of concrete.

Parker also will have to deal with Councilman C.O. Bradford and the Citizens Empowered advocacy group pushing for city charter reform. Among many proposed changes, lengthening term limits stands out as a way to ensure better long-term planning at City Hall.

We're looking forward to Parker's next two years. But even more, we're looking forward to Houston's next two, or 20, or 200. We think she is, too.